New perspectives on coastal landscape reconstruction during the Late Quaternary: A test case from central Israel

Abstract

The stratigraphic architecture of coastal plains is determined by the interactions between local (e.g. fluvial processes and topography), regional (e.g. climate) and global (e.g. sea level) forcing factors, primarily during the Late Quaternary Period. Detailed stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses of boreholes, cored between coastal ridges in the lowlands, coupled with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and integrated with existing onshore and offshore databases, has enabled a 4-D reconstruction of the evolution of the coast of Israel during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. This model revealed that Nilotic-sourced littoral sand, intermittently transported inland by wind, has either been lithified into aeolianite or pedogenized into orange-brown palaeosol from about 100 ka to 8 ka. Dark silty clay wetlands were deposited between the aeolian coastal ridges adjacent to streams which cut the Israeli coastal plain and flow westward, from the Last Glacial Maximum until the onset of the Holocene. These units are topped by beach and aeolian quartz sand dated to 6.6-0.1 ka. Diachronous thicknesses and lithological dissimilarities were identified between the sections studied and previous reports on adjacent coastal aeolianite ridges. Streams were found to be a dominant control on the stratigraphical composition and related facies architecture due to fluvial-induced erosion. Consequently, the relief variations between the lowland and cliff controlled aeolian pedogenesis as well as alluvial processes from about 80 to 5 ka. Climate, mainly influenced by precipitation and dust input, induced pedogenic processes; while sea level lowstand during the Last Glacial Maximum is shown to have hindered sediment deposition in the shallow offshore, which in turn affected aeolian transport, reducing sediment accumulation on the palaeo-coastal plain. The palaeoenvironmental model presented in the current study serves as an example for understanding the evolution of similar low-latitude siliciclastic-rich low-gradient shelf-coastal areas during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Furthermore, it demonstrates the influence of local to global forcing factors on these environments.

The Iron Age Maritime Interface at the South Bay of Tel Dor: results from the 2016 and 2017 excavation seasons

“…As previously noted by others (for example Rosen, 2008: 1930) this reef, if contemporaneous with habitation on the tell, would have prevented any possibility of docking next to the coastal features previously identified by Raban as quays (equalling our W16S-210 and W16S-220). As the sandstone reefs along the Carmel Coast were formed in the Late Pleistocene (Shtienberg et al, 2017: figs 4 and 5 and references therein), it was imperative to ascertain whether the reef was indeed a natural feature. During the 2016 season, an excavation of the southern face of this 'reef' revealed it to be a mass of hewn stones varying in size from 0.2 × 0.3m up to 0.25 × 0.6m (Fig.…”

Long‐term retreat rates of Israel's Mediterranean sea cliffs inferred from reconstruction of eroded archaeological sites

“…in press). The accumulation and lithification of this dune system (partly submerged now) occurred in the lower sea stand of late Pleistocene to early Holocene ages (Shtienberg et al., ). Paleosol layers are also found interbedded within these eolianite sequences, presumed to be the result of organic‐rich marshy back lagoons and related pedogenetic features that developed intermittently with the dune landscapes (Porat, Wintle, & Rite, ; Shtienberg et al., ; Sivan, Gvirtzman, & Sass, ; Harel et al.…”

Integrating Geomorphological Data, Geochronology and Archaeological Evidence for Coastal Landscape Reconstruction, the Case of Ammoudara Beach, Crete

“…Often, sparse artifact scatters are incorporated into sand deposits without clear indication of whether they are in their original context or perhaps within a buried lag surface, making the interpretation of OSL dates and their relationship with the original occupation time extremely difficult. Even if that is the case, careful examination of OSL data can provide insight into the conceptual development of a coastal landscape [95,[130][131][132].…”